


When a Raven Loses Its Wings

by BlazingSeraph



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bad Parenting, F/F, Family Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 20:36:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17753057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazingSeraph/pseuds/BlazingSeraph
Summary: What if Raven loved Summer before she died? What if she ends up coming to Yang after the Fall of Beacon?This is a story of what could've been if Raven cared just a little more.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> An AU I always wanted to read, so I'm writing it.

_Flashes of red dominate her vision. A lone figure in black stalks towards her, a menacing white mask covering their face._

_“Adam,” she spits out like a curse._

_His face twists into a smirk before he lowers into an offensive stance._

_Yang clenches her fists, glancing down to check for Ember Celica. ‘N-no.’ Her right arm was gone, and her gauntlets were missing. Her eyes widen in fear, she didn’t have anything to defend herself with._

_His smirk in place, he draws his sword-_

Waking up with a start, Yang takes a moment to gather her bearings. That dream has been haunting her since...since that day. She doesn’t feel like herself anymore, and she can barely look at the prosthetic arm that her dad brought from Atlas. She knows she can’t just mope around while Ruby is out there trying to find Cinder. But what’s the point? She isn’t strong anymore, she’s barely even functional.

It’s been three months since she’s been in recovery, and it’s still a struggle to do basic things like shower or change her clothes or eat without making a mess. She knows it will be easier if she just used the prosthetic arm, but that’s not her. That’s not a part of her body. It’s some.. foreign object that’s trying to replace her flesh and blood. 

Feeling miserable about herself again, Yang decides to just get up now. It’s almost morning, might as well try to be productive today. Zwei needs a walk anyways, and he’s probably already awake.

After getting ready, she calls out for Zwei before opening the door to go out. He bounds after her enthusiastically. They make their way through the edge of the property, Yang doesn't want to risk running into Grimm too far from the house.

Breathing in the fresh air, she feels a little better. Being cooped up in the house all day isn't good for her, and it just gives her too much time to think about Beacon. After a few moments of taking in mother nature, she notices a bird that she's seen numerous times before. Was it… following her?

The moment she spots it, the bird took flight and darts out of sight. _Weird_ , she thinks. Putting that out of her mind for now, she focuses on just clearing her thoughts. She can worry about that later, this is supposed to be a relaxing walk. 

Not even a minute later, Zwei starts barking and darts off further into the forest. Yang looks at the spot he accompanied a second ago in astonishment. 

“Z-zwei! Come back, you can't go too far into the forest, there's Grimm!” she yells as she runs after him.

It wasn't long before she found Zwei, his butt on the ground in a sitting position as he wagged his tail excitedly, looking up at something. _Or someone_ , she thinks as her eyes meet someone she's been searching for her whole life.

“Mom?” she chokes out.

“Hello daughter, I heard you've been looking for me?” she asks with a smirk.


	2. Chapter 2

“What are you doing here?” Yang asks with a shocked voice.

“Aren’t you happy? I know you’ve been wanting to meet me for a while,” she says.

“Happy? You just came here unannounced! After all this time I’ve searched for you, _now_ you decide to show your face?” Yang lets out in a burst of anger, her eyes turning red.

Raven quiets for a while. She’s staring at her intently, and Yang isn’t sure what she’s thinking. 

“You’re right I suppose. But you were never in danger of dying. With that arm however, if you don’t work through this, you might actually die,” she says matter of factly.

“You never cared about me dying before,” Yang angrily points out. “What about when I was a child and I searched for you with Ruby? And when I almost died in Mountain Glenn? What about the fall of Beacon? Where were you then?”

Raven snorts. “Who do you think told Qrow where you were? And I was there when that umbrella girl almost killed you. Why do you think you survived that?”

Yang has trouble comprehending what she just heard. _She was there?_ she thinks. It makes her re-evaluate everything she thought about her mom.

“Wh-what about Beacon?” she asks.

“You mean the place where there were numerous fully accomplished hunters and huntresses on staff? The place where _Ozpin_ worked?” she spits out the name Ozpin like it disgusted her to say. “You’d have to excuse me if I thought you’d be safe there.”

Yang doesn’t have a response to that, she’s already overwhelmed with meeting the person she’s been searching for her whole life. And finding out she actually cared about her? Even if it’s just a little? Her world feels like it’s being turned on its head.

“Then… what are you doing here?” she asks. 

“To make sure you don’t die. I’m taking you with me to train,” Raven states. “And there’s some things you need to know before doing what I already know you’re going to do.”

“And what is it you know I’m going to do exactly?” Yang asks with narrowed eyes.

“Go to your sister,” she deadpans.

“Well, what if I don’t want your help?” Yang asks in spite. Raven can’t just come back into her life and expect everything to be just fine. 

Raven scoffs. “You want to be strong don’t you? I can make you strong if you come with me. If you’d rather wallow in self-pity and your own stubbornness, you can stay here. I’m sure Taiyang will do an amazing job helping you get stronger.”

“Don’t talk about my family like that,” Yang warns.

Raven seems to re-evaluate her approach again before saying, “If you come with me, I’ll answer any questions you have. I’m sure you have plenty of those, and I won’t be like your father and uncle. I won’t lie to you.”

Yang stares at her in confusion. “Why are you trying so hard to get me to come with you?”

Raven shrugs dismissively. “Guess the bird never strays too far from her nest.”

“Was that… a joke?” Yang asks incredulously.

Raven makes a non-committal hum. “So are you coming or not?”

“I…” Yang starts. She doesn’t think she’d ever have a chance like this again. This is all of the things she’s ever wanted wrapped up in one person sized package. No matter what, she couldn’t let this opportunity pass. “Fine. Let me get some clothes at least.”

“Don’t forget to bring the Atlas arm and your weapons,” she says in a smug tone.

“Whatever, _mom_.”


	3. Chapter 3

Having put everything in her backpack, save for Ember Celica, she hoists it on her shoulders. Instead, she fastened Ember Celica to her wrist. Yang also made sure to write a note to let her dad know where she was, a simple “I’m with mom, dunno when I’ll be back,” should suffice. He can always just call her on her scroll so there wasn’t need for anything more elaborate. Besides, she won’t say this out loud, but she’s kind of excited. This is her mom, someone she’d always wanted to find. And she’s willing to answer all of her questions? Of course she couldn’t wait to go with her.

Yang finds Raven exactly where she left her. She’s sitting on the ground idly petting Zwei with a bored expression on her face. It’s… a weird image. Raven notices her and stands back up.

“Let’s go then,” she says while drawing her sword.

“Wait! What about Zwei?” Yang asks.

“He can come with,” she says before turning around and slicing the air.

A red gap opens up in the space that her sword connected with. It looks like a portal of some sort? “Hey mom… what is that?” she asks.

“My semblance lets me teleport to people I’ve bonded with. It’s a portal,” she states.

“Right, so where are we going then…?” Yang asks.

“Somewhere far from here,” she says before grabbing the collar of her shirt. “Now enough dallying, let’s go.”

Yang is thrown into the portal before Raven steps in after. Zwei lets out a bark before jumping in with them. She stumbles out, but manages to catch her balance before falling. 

“What the hell mom!” she yells.

Raven doesn’t acknowledge her, instead she turns to some chick with short hair before saying, “You can go back to the tribe now Vernal. I’ve got what I wanted.”

Yang looks at her and the other woman who already sped off into the woods. “Who is that, mom?”

“Nobody,” she says.

“Mom… you said no lies,” Yang reminds her.

Raven sighs before facing her. “She’s Vernal, my protege I suppose.”

“...Okay,” she accepts. Looking around her surroundings, Yang sees that they’re in the middle of a forest. It’s darker and feels more foreboding than the forest in Patch though. 

“Where are we…?” she asks tentatively.

“A Grimm-infested forest near Mistral. I did say you’d be training after all,” she says.

Yang stares at her incredulously. “Are you insane?! I have one arm! How am I supposed to fight Grimm with one arm?!”

The leaves shake from her outburst, as if something was being agitated from her voice.

“Calm down, you’ll attract Grimm here if you don’t watch that temper,” Raven warns.

Yang takes a deep breath and her eyes return to its usual lilac shade. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“You want to be stronger right? You’re not ready to put the prosthetic on yet, so you’re going to learn how to fight one-handed until you do,” she states.

“...You’re serious?” Yang asks.

Raven nods. The bushes on the right side of them shake until an Ursa emerges from the darkness. It gives a loud roar before charging at them.

“Oh look, that’s your first opponent.”


End file.
